It's A Wonderful Life Review

Few films really deserve such enthusiastic plaudits as 'heart-warming', 'classic' and 'inspirational', but Frank Capra's Christmas fable is worthy of them all - and more. Small-town life has never seemed quite so appealing.

Modern filmgoers are going to have to face facts: we're never going to live in such a gloriously friendly place as Bedford Falls. Because the town, as portrayed in It's A Wonderful Life, no longer exists - if, indeed, its values ever existed anywhere other than in Capra's imagination. Nevertheless, he crafted a magical, uplifting place that, happily, we can still visit any time we wish.

The film is a deceptively simple tale of redemption and hope versus hopelessness. James Stewart's George Bailey is desperately unhappy; reaching his all-time low when he sinks into alcoholic depression and considers suicide. Clarence (Travers), an angel as desperate to please as George and hoping to achieve his wings, saves him. In a classic sequence, Clarence unwraps George's life, showing him what might have been had he never existed, and convincing him that life is sweeter than he thinks.

In creating this comfortable world in which to exist for the duration of the movie, Capra and his co-writers have fashioned something timeless, where just about anyone can find solace.